
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 165 (Monday, August 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52774-52776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20710]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0973]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Animal Feed Network (Pet Event Tracking Network and 
LivestockNET)--State, Federal Cooperation To Prevent Spread of Pet Food 
and Animal Feed Related Diseases

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an 
opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain 
information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, 
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of 
information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the 
notice. This notice solicits comments on the paperwork burden to the 
public of the Animal Feed Network, which includes the Pet Event 
Tracking Network (PETNet) and LivestockNET, for reporting of pet food 
or animal feed related instances, respectively.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection 
of information by October 25, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments on the collection of information 
to http://www.regulations.gov. Submit written comments on the 
collection of information to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-
305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, 
Rockville, MD 20852. All comments should be identified with the docket 
number found in brackets in the heading of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Domini Bean, Office of Operations, 
Food and Drug Administration, 1350 Piccard Dr., PI50-400T, Rockville, 
MD 20850, 301-796-5733, domini.bean@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal 
agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 
1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of 
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a 
third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) 
requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including 
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, 
before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with 
this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection 
of information set forth in this document.
    With respect to the following collection of information, FDA 
invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether the proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's 
functions, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques, when 
appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

Pet Event Tracking Network--State, Federal Cooperation To Prevent 
Spread of Pet Food Related Diseases--and Livestock.NET--21 U.S.C. 342, 
21 U.S.C. 343, Section 1002(b) of the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 (Pub. 
L. 110-85, 121 Stat. 823) (2007)--OMB Control Number 0910-0680

    On August 1, 2011, the Pet Event Tracking Network (PETNet) was 
launched by FDA and its partners in the

[[Page 52775]]

Partnership for Food Protection (PFP). PETNet is a secure, Web-based 
network that allows information to be exchanged more freely and 
efficiently between FDA and other Federal and State regulatory 
agencies. PETNet allows the exchange of information about pet food 
related incidents, such as illness associated with the consumption of 
pet food or pet food product defects. PETNet is only accessible by 
government employees with membership rights, and each member has equal 
access to the data in the system. At its launch, the system had over 
200 members representing 4 Federal agencies, all 50 states, and 3 U.S. 
territories. Using the shared information, State and Federal agencies 
can work together to quickly determine if regulatory actions are needed 
to prevent or quickly limit adverse effects associated with pet food 
products.
    Since its launch, PETNet has seen increased usage among members. 
Two years following the launch of the system, there have been reports 
entered by two Federal agencies and multiple states. Approximately 60 
percent of the entries are from Federal agency members and 40 percent 
by State agency members. The majority of entries in PETNet are 
associated with dog food products, followed by cat food products, 
products affecting species ``other'' than those available in the drop 
down menu choices, and small mammal products. As familiarity with 
PETNet has increased, there has been increased usage and entries from 
members.
    PETNet was originally developed for pet animals only, but after its 
initial launch in 2011, there have been ongoing requests to expand the 
system to include livestock animals, aquaculture species, and horses. 
Such an early alert system does not currently exist to share 
information related to illness associated with consumption of 
adulterated food or product defects for these species. LivestockNET has 
been developed to serve as a similar early alert system for feed-
related illness and product defects associated with feed for livestock 
animals, aquaculture species, and horses.
    LivestockNET and PETNet will be Web-based portals with the same 
functionality, but the questions asked for each portal will be specific 
for each. Users of the individual portals are expected to be the same 
officials from Federal, State, and Territorial agencies. Because of the 
similarity of the portals and the intended audience for both, the two 
individual portals will be housed in an overall system titled the 
Animal Feed Network. PETNet and LivestockNET will be able to be 
accessed individually in the Animal Feed Network, once the user logs in 
to the system.
    Use of the Animal Feed Network, including the reporting of 
incidents by non-FDA members, will continue to be voluntary. The Animal 
Feed Network is a Web-based system, based in a proprietary system using 
CORESHIELD technology, and will be accessible only to members via 
password. PETNet and LivestockNET will make use of standardized 
electronic forms that have been custom developed for the individual 
portals. The two forms share the following common data elements, the 
majority of which are drop down menu choices: Product details (name of 
feed, lot code, product form, and the manufacturer or distributor/
packer (if known)), the species affected, number of animals exposed to 
the product, number of animals affected, body systems affected, product 
problem/defect, date of onset or the date product problem was detected, 
the State where the incident occurred, the origin of the information, 
whether there are supporting laboratory results, and contact 
information for the reporting member (i.e., name, telephone number will 
be captured automatically when member logs in to the system). For the 
LivestockNET form, additional data elements specific to livestock 
animals will be captured: Product details (indication of whether the 
feed is a medicated feed, product packaging, and intended purpose of 
the feed), class of the animal species affected, and production loss. 
For PETNet, the only additional data field is the animal life stage. 
The form would be filled out and submitted by a member in the specified 
portal of the Animal Feed Network. Once the entry is submitted, it will 
be available to other members. Thus, the information will be entered 
and received by Animal Feed Network members in as close to real time as 
possible. FDA and the PFP have designed the form itself to contain only 
the essential information necessary to alert Animal Feed Network 
members about animal feed and pet food related incidents.
    FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:

                                 Table 1--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden \1\
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                                                   Number of
       21 U.S.C. section           Number of     responses per   Total annual    Average burden     Total hours
                                  respondents     respondent       responses      per response
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21 U.S.C. 342, 21 U.S.C. 343,               20               5             100  0.25 (15                      25
 Section 1002(b) of the FDA                                                      minutes).
 Amendments Act of 2007/PETNet.
Ibid./LivestockNET portal.....              20               5             100  0.25 (15                      25
                                                                                 minutes).
                               ------------------------------------------------                  ---------------
    Total Hours...............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ................              50
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
  information.

    FDA estimates that each State will report to the Animal Feed 
Network (i.e., fill out the PETNet or LivestockNET form to alert other 
members about a pet food or animal food related incident, respectively) 
approximately 5 times per year for each portal. This estimate 
represents the maximum number of reports that FDA expects a State to 
submit in a year, and in many cases the number of reports submitted by 
a State will probably be far less. FDA believes that, given the PETNet 
form has 15 items and the LivestockNET form has 19 items, with most 
being drop down fields and not all fields being required for 
submission, 15 minutes is a sufficient amount of time to complete the 
form. State regulatory officials responsible for animal feed and pet 
food already possess computer systems and have the Internet access 
necessary to participate in the Animal Feed Network, and thus there are 
no capital expenditures associated with the reporting.
    Regarding recordkeeping, State regulatory officials who report in 
the Animal Feed Network receive the reportable information from 
consumers in their States in the course of their customary and regular 
duties. Further, these individuals already maintain records of such 
consumer complaints in the course of their duties, which are

[[Page 52776]]

sufficient for the purposes of reporting in the PETNet and LivestockNET 
portals of the Animal Feed Network. Therefore, FDA believes that the 
proposed collection of information does not have additional 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 20, 2013.
Leslie Kux,
Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-20710 Filed 8-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-P


